5th Projekt

Seriously, this writer would be willing to buy almost ANY album if its packaging is even just half the fun of 5th Projekt's The Tales of Don Quixote. In a world of digital singles and forgotten cover-art, 5th Projekt have taken the packaging of their extended-EP to heights nearly forgotten in the 21st century. All there really is to say is: iTunes watch your back. Aside from the frickin' sweet case, the music 5th Projekt presents is just as quirky and fun to deconstruct.

I have to admit that I was terrified when I first read the album's track-list: "DISTRAKtid"? "Skeptoicosm"? Thoughts of a half-baked rap album danced in my throbbing head. But (thankfully) that's not the case. Sort of a quasi-concept album, Don Quixote lives in the borderland between experimental New Age and dreamscape twee pop. 5th Projekt calls this magical place "Neo-Classical Romanticism". Self-produced and self-released on their own Organik Rekords, Don Quixote is a dreamy, wandering album that if personified would believe in ghostly spirits, lucid dreaming, and the power of the mind over the physical.

Oh, and don't forget to remove the outer-sleeve of the album to unleash all the wonders locked beneath it. It would be an injustice. Ditto for the music.